Going by economic status of Lagos-Ibadan expressway corridor as the busiest road in West African sub-region, Ogun State Property and Investment Corporation (OPIC) is working towards creating housing hubs in the corridor, assisting Ogun state in the creation of mega city development blueprint.
Ogun State Property and Investment Corporation, an arm of both Ministries of Housing, Commerce and Industry, is vigorously making efforts to create housing hubs along Lagos-Ibadan expressway corridor with massive provision of housing units in the expanse and lush New Makun City housing project at Sagamu interchange end and in MTR Garden Estates at Isheri end of the expressway, having started various housing units in the identified areas.
According to Jide Odusolu, managing director of OPIC, 256 housing units will be completed in first phase and delivered to prospective allottees in the second quarter of this year with a view to constructing several kilometres of linking roads from Lagos-Ibadan expressway down to New Makun City, at Sagamu interchange and MTR Garden Estates at Isheri.
Consequently, OPIC has earmarked N4.5 billion on capital projects which will cover massive provision of housing units and linking roads to both New Makun City and MTR Garden Estates; rehabilitation of roads, repairs and upgrade of housing units in both Agbara Residential Estates in Agbara and Alamala Estates in Abeokuta as well as other housing estates spread across three Senatorial districts of the State.
Speaking in Abeokuta on the proposed capital projects and revenue for the year, Jide Odusolu, managing director of OPIC, declared that investment would be raised in housing provision for investors and other residents of the State, especially those that work around Lagos-Ibadan expressway corridor and Agbara industrial estates as well as borderlines in order to earn more revenue for government and create direct and indirect employment opportunities for able-bodied residents.
He added that OPIC had continued to review upwardly, its property rents in Abeokuta, Isheri and Ikeja to meet current economic realities, saying ‘’we have continued to review the Ikeja Plaza rental charges and facilities to maximize the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) on rents.’’
The Managing Director submitted that, to adequately explore investment opportunities and implement project designs and policies formulated for the year, the Corporation had increased its recurrent expenditure to N667,859,895 in the 2018 budget as against its budget performance of N454,970,006.70 as of October 2017.
RAZAQ AYINLA, Abeokuta
